My husband is never ridiculous

i'm the one who trips & falls, tries a new hair-do & ends up looking like Dog the Bounty Hunter, laughs & juice comes out my nose, wears the wrinkly shirt, sits in a spill... (the list goes on & on...) He's always so.... so.... perfect.
*Note: After i typed that, the doorbell rang & it was the pastor's wife, picking up my 2 big girls to babysit at the church. i put on my best smile - to hopefully distract from my hair that was too tangly to brush this morning, so it's in a heap & my pj bottoms that are a little big & always slipping down...
Neil, meanwhile, looks so handsome in his work clothes this morning. He's got it all together in his tidy little office.

So, i'll tell you the story of when Neil was ridiculous.

i was about 9 months pregnant with Gage. i was tired & achy & ready to just sit like a lump in bed eating snacks till babe came. i asked Neil to buy me a labour ball so i could use it to labour at home if i needed to a bit before going to the hospital. Neil being the awesome husband that he is, did pick one up for me & one evening, while i was sitting in my crumbs in our bed, he blew it up. Funny thing was, it came with these straps... 'what are those for?' we wondered.

Neil had already rowed & done his push-ups, but he proceeded to attach the straps in a way that probably looked right to him - & showed me, "See, honey? You just do it like this. This is a great work out!! You should try this & get some exercise!!" i just watched from the bed... unable... unwilling to move.

His arms were pushing, he held the ball down with one foot & gave a mighty pull with his arms... grunting, straining...

...the ball suddenly bounced up and smashed him in the face.

*now... for the rest of the story, i'm just guessing what happened 'cause i was hiding under the blankets wondering how hard you can laugh before you put yourself into labour...

He quietly took off the straps,

Went across the room... found his glasses - checking to see if they were bent or damaged in their flight,

Turned off the light & climbed into bed.

My side of the bed was shaking in the silent darkness.

i love that i got to see that little chink in his armour. A teeny moment of weakness - a small hint of 'ridiculous' - from my tower of strength. i love that - as close to perfection that he is - he still isn't there. i love that his side of the bed started shaking too & we laughed so long that we probably got a better work out than that old ball could give anyway.

So, no, my husband is never ridiculous - but one day, he was.

& for that i'm grateful.